Cake for Lunch - Honkai Star Rail fanfic✨
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pairings: Bronseele all the wayyyy
summary: Bronya is stressed out in her new role as Supreme Guardian, so she asks Seele to have lunch with her.
words: 1.9k
author's note: Sooo, my first fanfic on here! I love these lesbians to the moon and back so thought I'd at least try to do them some justice... 👀 This will also be on my ao3 of the same account name!
warning: This is set after the Jarilo VI storyline, so there will be spoilers for the first planet of the game!
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Bronya hadn't found it difficult to adjust to her new role as Supreme Guardian, per se. It was true that Cocolia, despite everything, had prepared her well, and she was a capable person, everyone in Belobog knew that much. But that didn't mean that she hadn't had her fair share of sleepless nights and endless anxiety on how to heal an almost broken nation. It was a lot of responsibility to put onto one person, especially when that one person knew exactly what happened to the previous Supreme Guardian, even when few other people did.
That was one of the many things she found herself turning to Seele for.
The two grew into a sort of routine after the Astral Express Crew's departure, with Bronya settling into her workload, and Seele mainly serving as an ambassador of sorts for the people of the Underworld. She also occasionally helped with keeping the peace, but didn't believe in having a proper job title, she just did whatever she saw fit to help Belobog. Bronya entirely trusted her judgement, so she just allowed it to happen. Agreeing with Seele was a lot easier than arguing with her after all, and she knew what she was doing.
Through all this, the sun continued to rise over Belobog, and while they didn't exactly feel it getting warmer just yet, hope was on the horizon.
It was on one of those sunny days that Bronya called Seele up to meet with her. This wasn't remotely unusual, it was more the timing that made Seele question things. Bronya rarely had time for anything in the middle of the day, and the two generally had to keep their meetings to late evenings. But here she was, making her way over to the Supreme Guardian in the bright, early-afternoon daylight.
"Bronya?" Seele called, voice echoing around the entrance of Qlipoth Fort, "You in here?"
"Seele," Bronya replied immediately, voice soft with that slight hint of affection that tended to creep into it whenever she spoke to the other girl, "Thank you for joining me at such late notice."
"Yeah, of course- What do you need me for, is there trouble?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing like that. Sorry, did I make you worry?"
"Uh- Kinda? It's just weird for you to ask to see me at this time."
"Well, I..."
Bronya closed her eyes for a second, as if going over the words she was about to say in her head.
"I was thinking of taking a break to eat today, and I... Wanted you to join me."
"Oh."
The two exchanged glances a little nervously, both fighting to keep their blush to a minimum.
"Yeah," Seele started, an uncharacteristically shy smile forming on her face, "Yeah, I'd love to."
Bronya returned a similar pleased expression, going to exchange a few words with the other people dotted around the grand workspace and then wandering over to join Seele.
"Where are we going, anyway?" She asked when Bronya started walking, gesturing to the other girl to follow.
"I have a place in mind."
"...Always so mysterious, huh?" Seele sighed, hurrying to catch up.
The two walked in step with each other through Belobog, Bronya confidently leading the way to a quaint little outdoor seating area to the far side of the district. It was mostly empty and had one of the old, questionably drawn wanted posters still up.
"...Haven't you taken these down?" Seele commented when she saw it.
"No, I find them a little amusing, to tell the truth," Bronya admitted, eyes following Seele's to see what she was talking about. "So I requested to keep some of them up. Gepard was certainly pleased when he heard I liked them."
Both of them giggled at this as they took a seat, Bronya visibly less tense already. This certainly didn't go unnoticed by her companion.
"What are you gonna get? Got something in mind?" Seele asked, picking up the menus which were already on the table.
"There's something specific I usually get here. A few years ago I was doing some training nearby, and came here for my food every day. They have one of the finest cakes Belobog has to offer." Seele looked up, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, I haven't actually tried that yet."
"Cake?"
"Yeah. It's one of those things we didn't have in the Underworld, because we didn't really have the resources to make it. The people who were alive before the whole separation thing talked about it sometimes though, and I've seen pictures..." Seele gazed wistfully into the distance, remembering how Natasha would talk about the dessert, or the images of it she'd seen as a child and gotten immensely jealous of.
She paused, turning back to Bronya accusingly, "Hey, hang on, the Overworld Princess eating something unhealthy? I never thought I'd see the day. And you're not having cake for lunch, are you?" She was obviously teasing, the grin on her face no doubt giving her away. In truth, she was pretty happy that Bronya was loosening up a little, especially after all of the... Cocolia business.
"Hey, I'm on break, and am I not allowed to enjoy a treat once in a while?" Bronya shot back, a mirrored smile on her face.
When someone came over to take their order, Bronya calmly requested the cake she was talking about. Seele, realising she'd been so busy talking to Bronya that she forgot to choose something for herself, just quickly blurted, "I'll just have whatever she ordered."
"I was hoping you'd at least try it." Bronya admitted once the waiter had gone.
"Well, you seemed so excited about it, so..." Seele mumbled, suddenly not able to meet the other girl's eyes. And even now, she had too much pride to admit she absolutely wanted to try the recommended cake.
A few moments of silence passed between them. Bronya cleared her throat.
"So, what have you been doing today?"
"Um-" Seele rested her elbows on the table, grateful for the change of subject. "Mostly just helping everyone move stuff from the Underworld to the Overworld. The people who were able to find places to stay here, anyway." She sighed, now turning to look the buildings that surrounded them up and down.
"I'm... Sorry I can't do more to help them." Bronya said quietly, eyes cast down. She looked so genuine that Seele forgot to be annoyed about the Underworld not being a priority in the Guardian's eyes.
"Hey, it's okay." Seele replied eventually, shocked at her own words. She suddenly wanted so badly for Bronya to smile again. "They're getting on okay. Everyone's grateful that we can at least go up to the Overworld now, even if they can't stay there."
"Well, I'm glad then. And I promise you, as soon as I'm able, I'll turn my priorities over-"
"We don't have to talk about this now. We're having dessert lunch, remember?"
"Yeah..." Bronya looked up, her guilt leaving her a little when she saw Seele's encouraging smile. "Yes, you're right. Um, sorry."
Seele burst out laughing, "Now you're apologising! I thought you'd loosened up when you suggested the cake."
"Sorry-" Bronya said again, and then clamped a hand over her mouth. The whole ordeal just made the other girl laugh even more, suddenly grateful she got to see a side of the Supreme Guardian that barely anyone else did. And to her, the expression on Bronya's face was startlingly adorable, making Seele feel strangely giddy.
"I'm just teasing you, I'm sorry." She said once she'd stopped laughing so much.
"I shouldn't have indulged you..." Bronya muttered, feigning annoyance. But she'd missed this. Talking to Seele so freely like this, someone who wasn't constantly reminding her of permits she needed to look over or conferences she had to attend. It felt freeing. It was one of the reasons she was so keen to have lunch with her like this.
The waiter came back over with two plates of an admittedly exquisite looking slide of cake. Seele found herself forgetting entirely about... everything else when she lay eyes on it, hardly believing it was real.
"Oh my god Bronya, look at this!" She said excitedly, an almost childlike expression of awe on her face.
It was Bronya's turn to laugh then, "I knew you'd like it, isn't it excellent?"
"Yes!" Seele replied, entirely letting go of her usual demeanour, "You really weren't lying, huh?"
"I'm a little offended that you thought that was a possibility." Bronya joked, watching Seele pick up her fork and take a bite. Her face somehow lit up even more, and it took everything she had to not squeal with excitement.
"Bronya, that's incredible, you really went and ate stuff like this every day? Wow, I knew you were an Overworld Princess, but wow."
Knowing she was the one that caused Seele such happiness made Bronya's chest tighten a little in a way she wasn't entirely used to. Just watching her companion now with such an excited smile made sheer delight nestle itself inside her heart, and she was suddenly very conscious of her own expression. She'd had this dessert many times before, but Seele's reaction was contagious, and Bronya found herself grinning almost as much.
"I can't wait to tell Natasha about this. I'll definitely recommend this place to her too." Seele said once she'd calmed down a little and had a few more bites, slowly getting more used to the taste of it.
"And Hook!" She continued. "God, I won't be able to get Hook away from this stuff."
"Have you been spending a lot of time with them recently? I wish I had more time so I could see them all."
"Yeah, just this morning I spent some time with the Moles. They're having a pretty great time finding new hiding spots in Belobog, since there were so few places in Boulder Town that they started sneaking into the Fragmentum just to have more exciting games of hide and seek."
Bronya's face fell. "Oh, that's awful."
"Well-" Seele just shrugged. "Good news is, it's over now. We can't really change the past, right?"
Bronya admired this mindset. Maybe she did need to stop blaming herself for not realising how badly the people in the Underworld were treated before she became Supreme Guardian.
"Anyway, Natasha's gotten real friendly recently with that woman, what was her name... Serval! Yeah, she's cool, I like her. She asked after you the other day, by the way."
"Serval, she... Used to be friends with my mother. I've known her for a very long time."
"Wow, she's older than she looks. We should go one of her shows one day, would you wanna come with me?"
The question suddenly silenced the both of them when Seele realised what that sounded like. Did she just accidentally ask Bronya on a date? She felt the need to start denying it out loud immediately, but she'd only end up looking like a bumbling idiot. She knew that much, at least.
After a few seconds of charged silence, Bronya just smiled.
"Of course, I'd love to."
When they left and Bronya paid, the two wandered back to the Fort side by side, the air between them charged with unspoken feelings and ultimately, the happiness of enjoying cake for lunch together. Seele knew she'd be asking Bronya to do this again tomorrow.
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